At Mansfield Primary School, there is certainly plenty happening, and it continues to be wonderful to see our school community coming together in so many positive ways.

We were absolutely delighted to hear the recent State Budget announcement confirming funding for the refurbishment of our junior toilets, including upgrades to our accessible toilet facilities. This is fantastic news for our school and a project that will make a significant difference for our students and staff. We are incredibly grateful for this investment in our school and are looking forward to seeing the finished project come to life over the coming months.

It was also an honour for Lauren Briggs and myself to present at the Benalla, Mansfield and Wangaratta Principal Network Forum last week. We had the opportunity to share the work our staff and students have undertaken in literacy over the past two years, highlighting the strong results we have achieved through evidence-based best practice approaches to teaching and learning. We are incredibly proud of the dedication of our staff and the growth our students continue to demonstrate in literacy outcomes.

I would also like to congratulate our amazing Year 6 students and all members of our school community who participated in this year’s World's Greatest Shave. We are so proud of the students who bravely shaved or coloured their hair to support such an important cause. The generosity shown by our community has been extraordinary, with our fundraising total now exceeding $16,000 — and still climbing! It has been inspiring to see our students demonstrate such compassion, courage and leadership.

Another highlight this week has been our “Acorn Challenge.” I challenged students to collect as many acorns from around the school grounds as possible, with the winning classroom to be announced at our next assembly. The response from students was incredible. Within just three days, students had collected more than 200 kilograms of acorns from around the yard! Even better, the acorns will not go to waste, as they are being donated to one of our school families to help feed their pigs. It has been wonderful to see students working together, showing teamwork and pride in caring for our school environment.

Excitement is also building for next week’s visit from the Collingwood AFLW team. Our students are very excited to meet the players, hear about teamwork, resilience and leadership, and enjoy this special opportunity. I think it is fair to say that Mrs Salmon may be the most excited of all — Go Collingwood!

Finally, students have been thoroughly enjoying the newly painted playground lines and activity spaces around the school. These improvements are the final stage of last year’s fundraising efforts, and it has been lovely to see so many students actively using and enjoying the new games and activity areas during recess and lunchtime. Thank you again to our families and community members whose support helped make these improvements possible.

Thank you for your continued support of our wonderful school community. We look forward to seeing everyone next week for all of our exciting Education Week activities. 

Nicole Salmon                      

B.App.Sc. (Dis.St.), Dip.Ed., M.Ed. (Sp.Ed.)

AFTER SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS 

Please ensure your child is aware of what is happening after school, where they are going, who is picking them up and they know the plan if a after school activity is cancelled. 

A reminder to families that the school day finishes at 3.30pm. Please ensure your child/children are collected from school in a timely manner. If you are running late, please notify the front office. 

BUS TRAVEL 

Any changes to your afternoon bus travel arrangements are to be made by 2.00pm for the day of travel. This can be made via the Audiri App by selecting Resources, Forms, then Bus Travel or calling the front office on 5775 2325 & follow the prompts. 

If your child has started a new after school activity for the Term, football/netball/cricket training for example, please update their regular bus travel arrangements. 

Absences

If your child is absent from school, we ask that you contact the school by 10am on the day or as soon as practicable. Absent messages can be submitted through our school app Audiri, by phone or email. 

Medication

All medication for students during the school day must be given to the front office staff and a medication authority form is to be completed.  

Student Toilets

Please be mindful that the student toilets are for students only. There are toilets located at the front office, please see the office staff if needed. 

Supervision Before & After School

MPS Yard is supervised before school from 8.30am and after school until 3.45pm.

Two teachers are on duty in the yard at these times wearing an orange vest and students can go to them with any issues.

Any students in the yard outside these times will be asked to move to the front office to wait until supervision begins.

Audiri

In an emergency our school app Audiri will be used as our main source of communication to our families. This is a reminder to families to download Audiri.

Please note (if you have not already updated) to update your child/s year level on Audiri. This is done by opening Audiri selecting resources, groups, & then selecting your child/s grade including whole school. 

Family Details

If your family contact details have recently changed - residential address, contact numbers & or emergency contacts please update via Audiri by selecting resources, forms & then change of details. 

SCHOOL UNIFORM

Uniform to be ordered through Spartan School Supplies.      

We have a full range of uniform on display at the front office for you to view before making your purchases online. 

LOST PROPERTY

Please note we cannot return items that have no name. Please ensure uniform & drink bottles are clearly labelled with your child's name. 

SPARE CLOTHES

If your child has come home in spare clothes from school, we ask that you please wash & return these items.

HEAD LICE

A reminder to families to be checking for head lice & taking the appropriate steps to treat hair if lice are found. 

Term 2       

• 15th May    District Cross Country 
• 28th May    Division Cross Country
• 3rd June    From Scratch program starts- Year 6     
• 5th June    Student Free Day
• 8th June    Public Holiday
• 12th June    Regional Cross Country
• 16th - 17th June    Year 5 Bike Ed
• 18th June     World Make Music Day
• 26th June    Last day of term
• 27th June - 12th July    School Holidays                               

All Victorian government primary schools follow a statewide timeline for enrolling in Foundation (Prep) for the 2027 school year. 

If you have a child starting primary school in 2027, it’s time to enrol. Make sure to submit your enrolment application by Friday 31 July 2026. 

If you are enrolling the sibling of a student at our school for Foundation in 2027, and both children will be attending our school at the same time, your child is prioritised for a place at our school. 

It is important to submit your enrolment application to us on time as it will ensure your child is included in all transition activities if offered enrolment at our school. This also allows us to plan our classrooms, staffing and transition activities, and ensures your child has the best start to school. 

For more information, please read about how to enrol your child in Foundation at https://www.vic.gov.au/enrolling-foundation-prep

If you would like to enrol your child in Foundation (Prep) in 2027, please contact our school office on 03 5775 2325 to book a school tour or request an application form. Apply online - VicStudents

The past month has been busy busy with instruments, drama activities and the start of some senior and junior dance sessions in the Performing Arts room.  Year Prep have been looking at mastering their first instruments and writing music on their own. Year 1 and 2 have celebrated some new skills and confidence with a ukulele class concert. Year 3 are working on scripts ideas for their musical. Year 4 have been presenting at assemblies. Year 5 are making some bands and posing for some epic cover photos for when they are famous!  Year 6 are busy doing show ideas and performances. Our talented musicians have started doing public performances and are getting ready for more during Education week. 

We’ve also hosted 3 visiting music teachers from outside of Mansfield who’ve come to see and learn about our amazing Performing Arts program! 

Our brave team took part in the World’s Greatest Shave to fundraise money to help support The Leukaemia Foundation.

We hope that by shaving or colouring our hair we can send hope and support to the many families currently facing blood cancer, raise funds to provide relief to those who need it, and most importantly one day find a cure.

Thank you to everyone who supported our cause.

Thank you to everyone who came along to our come and try days for the social soccer. Registrations have now opened and social soccer will continue every Saturday (minus school holidays) from 9am - 10:30am. At this stage there will be no mid-week training due to limited resources. This may be something we evolve to pending interest and parent availability. As a community sport we really rely upon parent involvement and thank all those that have put their hands up to coach on the weekends.

Please see below for the registration links for your child and please note the relevant age group they fall into. 

Ages 6 to 11 years old:

https://registration.playfootball.com.au/.../pro.../66196158 

Ages 12 to18 years old:

https://registration.playfootball.com.au/.../pro.../66197288 

Once we have your confirmed registration, we will place you in the relevant Whatsapp group for all future communication moving forward. 

See you all on Saturday and following social soccer will be our two league matches if you can stay and cheer on. It's a great opportunity to see what the development pathway is for our younger players. We look forward to a great season of fun and skills-based learning.